Are you viewed as old at 50? 60? 70? Aging, perceptions a moving target

Last week, Britain’s Prince Philip was pulling out of his driveway into a busy road when his vehicle collided with another car, sending the Land Rover he was driving rolling on its side. Amazingly, the 97-year-old Duke of Edinburgh wasn’t injured, and the passengers in the other vehicle suffered only minor injuries. The crash, which occurred near the royal family’s Sandringham estate in eastern England, is still being investigated.

Despite his age, Queen Elizabeth’s husband is an avid motorist who famously drove President and Mrs. Obama to lunch three years ago. But the incident has sparked new discussions about whether he’s too old to drive. Many commentators have suggested that the prince hand in the keys, even though it’s not yet been determined that his age had anything to do with the crash. What we define as “old” is often tainted with a lot of stereotypes and assumptions which might or might not be true.

In August, I wrote about a study from the American Automobile Association which suggested that, with increasing numbers of seniors on the roads well into their 90s, some of them should probably not be behind the wheel. Although older drivers are statistically safer on the road, aging brings with it a number of sensory, cognition and mobility issues which might hinder reaction times and focus. But these factors affect different people in different ways, some more profoundly than others.

But it all begs the question: what age is “too old” to drive, and, on a deeper level, what constitutes “old”, anyway?

An intriguing study this week commissioned by A Place for Mom, a senior living referral service, suggests that we need to develop a better understanding of aging. The study asked 2,000 people between the ages of 16 and 34 (most of whom would fit in the loosely-defined “millennial” generation) about their impressions of older people.

Perhaps not surprisingly, nearly three quarters of the group said they believed older people’s driving skills are worse than their own. However, auto crash statistics indicate that millennials are actually much more dangerous on the road than older drivers. Generally, crashes tend to decrease with age, and although numbers of crashes do start to swing back up as people enter their 70s, the numbers are still considerably better than those of much-younger drivers.

Interestingly, millennials (on average) pegged 59 as the age at which someone is considered “old.” Male respondents said 56 was the magic number, with women saying 61. Research, though, such as a study released earlier this year by Michigan State University, shows that our perceptions about age change as we get older. (Personally, I’m way past the age I would have considered “old” when I was in college, or even 20 years ago.) And there’s the Pew study in 2009 of respondents across age groups, which found that number to be 68.

But it’s not all about millennials having a negative view of seniors, or prejudice toward the elderly. For example, when asked whether “people become an economic burden on society when they reach old age,” 65 percent said they disagreed; only 12 percent agreed. And millennials appear to be hopeful for happy lives when they reach senior citizen status.

Here are a few more questions asked during the study, and millennials’ responses:

“As people age, they become lonelier.” 42 percent agreed, 25 percent disagreed. Research seems to back up that perception.

“When people get old, they have less of a sense of adventure and are less inclined to travel.” 45 percent disagreed; only a quarter said they agreed. Many seniors are actually traveling a lot more as they get older.

“As people grow old, they become less happy.” More than half disagreed; happiness has a lot more to do with one’s situation and attitude than age.

Ultimately, while statistics and surveys can indicate patterns or changing attitudes, chances are that the everyday interactions among the generations may reveal that millennials and seniors are more alike than they realize.

Each generation has something to learn from the other, and something of value to teach. The question of whether to hang up the car keys – and when that should happen – is just one of many generational issues that we’ll have to face in the years to come.